Metro Elevators Face Yet Another Delay

The reopening of the elevator at the Bethesda Metro station has again been pushed back, seven months after it was closed and two months since Metro officials first said it would reopen.

The Washington Examiner reported last week that Metro is still waiting on state elevator inspectors to clear its rehabilitation work and allow the transit system to put the elevator back in service.

As we reported early last week, Metro officials say their work on the project is completed and all that remains is the inspection.

The delays have caused headaches for some Bethesda Metro customers, especially the disabled or those who don’t wish to use the station’s three escalators. At 212 feet, the escalators are the second longest in the Western Hemisphere. The project was supposed to be completed in October, but was delayed for what was supposed to be three weeks after workers messed up the sequencing of work.

Metro officials told the Examiner they hoped the elevator would be open by this Friday.